


Fifty Seventh: Part Three

by CzarBetchimov



Series: Fifty Seventh [3]
Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: F/M, Welcome to hell. Please enjoy your stay.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-06
Updated: 2014-07-06
Packaged: 2018-02-07 17:31:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1907688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CzarBetchimov/pseuds/CzarBetchimov
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The horror of the fifty-seventh Hunger Games begins...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_Bright light._

And then, as her eyes adjusted, bright colors filled her vision.

_Fall colors. Blue sky._

Her heart beat hard and steady as she took in everything around her.

_The cornucopia. A big, shiny golden horn, surrounded by randomly scattered bags and things._

_Trees, of yellows and browns and reds. Aspen trees. Aspen trees going on forever into the distance in all directions. Leaves all over the ground amongst the grass._

_A massive mountain, with something perched up high upon it in the far distance... A building, maybe?_

Her eyes squinted, and then, a holographic number appeared on top of the cornucopia, and began to count down from 50.

_Uh oh._

Every second was marked with a ground shaking, low thud emitted from somewhere.

Her breath sharpened, and she looked around at the tributes that flanked her on both sides, who were doing one last, safe trade of glances. A certain blonde was nowhere in sight, and she swallowed.

_Where is he?_

The countdown reached 40, and she grew tense, shivering as a cool breeze flicked her hair around and brushed her skin.

_Thank goodness for this jacket._

Her eyes rose back into the sky, and she watched the clusters of clouds above as they drifted across the open blue air.

_Even if this is an arena, its unfortunately quite realistic._

**30.**

She blew a breath out of her lungs, and her eyes sifted through the packs and objects scattered around.

She faced the tail of the cornucopia. _Weapons are at the mouth. Weapons are valuable._

_There are no weapons in sight._

She exhaled, breathing in the chillingly cold air. _No weapons. Not even a knife visible._

_I am in the wrong place to start._

**20.**

Her mind raced. _Less than twenty seconds!_

_What did Mark say? He said run. Grab something if I'm fast. Then get away. Am I fast enough?_

_Well, there's only one way to find out, right? Why can't there be two ways? There's gotta be a way to get a weapon if you can't beat people to the mouth right?_

**10.**

_Ohhh no._

_Everyone is gearing up to run. What else do we do?_

_We run. Run. Run Aelita, you can run._

Her eyes flicked back to the timer, and her thoughts stopped, filling the silence with the thump of each second.

**5.**

**4.**

**3.**

**2.**

**1.**

**0.**

_Run._

Springing off the platform, her feet came in contact with the leaf-strewn ground, and she found herself running as fast as she could muster alongside everybody else, towards the cornucopia.

_A deadly race. What do they call it... Survival of the fittest?_

As soon as she began to near the tail, a spear hurtled past in the distance, and somebody to the right fell dead.

_People are already at the mouth. People already have weapons._

She tried to stop, only to find that the leaves below didn't agree, and her feet slid right out from underneath her.

Somebody jumped right over her a second after she realized she was now facing the sky, and she pushed herself upright and sped into a run around the other side of the cornucopia, getting a glimpse of somebody being shoved down and then audibly stabbed.

Her eyes flicked over towards the mouth of the cornucopia, and blood was already flowing as tributes were killing and being killed, one after another.

Looking just beyond, a pair of backpacks sat in the distance, just to the left of the gruesome scene. And before she realized it, she was heading towards them.

_Two backpacks. Is it possible?_

A boy entered her vision. The district 7 boy, wielding an axe. _Heading for the same backpacks._

Adrenaline coursed through her as she changed course at the last moment, suddenly charging into the boy with no time for him to block an entire body ramming into him.

An impact and two sharp grunts later, she found herself twirling into the air and then tumbling onto the ground.

Momentarily stunned from the collision, she rolled over and hopped upright, assessing the new situation.

_Backpacks. Axe. Boy coming at me._

Her eyes widened, seeing the same boy lurch forward and reclaim the axe, but just as he began raising it towards her, her fist flew forward into his face.

Something popped. Somebody screamed. The boy recoiled, cupping his nose that began to produce blood, and she reached forward, trying hastily to jerk the axe from his grip. He jerked it back, but she brought her leg up and delivered a hard kick straight into his gut, knocking him backward and causing his arm to slacken on the axe, jerking it right out of his fingers, and jerking Aelita back, almost causing her to lose her balance.

She clutched the double-bladed weapon in her hands and looked around quickly, but her eyes only fell upon one backpack. The other was long gone.

She looked up towards the cornucopia. Noticing then that people were shouting and starting to run towards her, she dove over to the grey backpack, but the leaves ruined her traction again, causing her to slip just after clutching the strap of the bag.

Something sharp stuck into a tree nearby, and a sickening slicing sound mingled with moans of agony behind, kicking her into overdrive as she swung the backpack's straps over her shoulders, found traction under her feet and sped into the trees, gripping the axe just under the black steel blade as she ran for her life.

* * *

Crashing, twigs snapping, hurried footsteps, shouts, taunts. All were fuel for her adrenaline.

Tree after tree whizzed past. Blurs of white trunks and the colorful variety of leaves. Rocks. A rabbit or something that ran away. _Running scared like me._

She took a turn around another big rock, and just past a small pond, the ground sunk in a small, rocky, gulley-like depression.

She skidded to a halt, and tucked herself under a stone ledge when footsteps sped past, not very far away.

Her lungs were fit to burst as she held her breath, and after a moment of waiting, she sank to the ground, her hands settling onto a smooth, round rock below as she gasped, taking in lungfuls of the cold, sweet air.

_Yes. Nothing like District 3 at all. Not a factory or tenement in sight. Just a lot of nature. A lot of trees._

_A lot of running._

She collapsed to her side, regaining her breath under the small shadow of the overhang.

_Somebody was fooled seconds ago. But there was more than one person pursuing me..._

She lifted the axe up in front of her face, seeing a faint reflection against the black surface.

_Axe. A weapon. I stole it, and got myself one backpack._

_Two seemed far fetched anyway._

Tempted to investigate said backpack, she sat upright, only to freeze when footsteps turned into a scream, and then a gargle.

And then silence.

Her eyes flitted up to the sky, which was now grey with overcast. _My, how things change quickly._

She listened to the silence, broken by the occasional rustle and eerie whistle of wind as the leaves tumbled and swirled around, but no further sounds arose.

Taking the cue, she cautiously climbed out of the gulley, keeping her head on a swivel as she walked, not really sure where she was headed.

Weaving around several more trees, a small gasp caught her attention, and her boot suddenly found the arm of a corpse. She looked down, her mouth opened, but then she noticed a small boy staring at her from a few feet away, holding onto the long shaft of a spear, its tip soaked with blood.

_Oh, shit._

Her grip tightened on her axe as she made the connection, seeing blood oozing from the neck of...

_Glint?_

The sight repulsed her, and she backed away realizing a threat, only to find that the child had already turned and run away.

_Did a little kid just kill a career?_

She turned a different direction and quickly left behind the body.

_Guess I should expect anything now..._

She grimaced at the constant crunching under her feet as her boots kicked through piles of leaves.

_So many damn leaves..._

Stepping over a fallen log, she began to realize the land was slowly rising uphill in front of her, and paused.

Then, hearing a faint footstep, her skin crawled, spooked.

_What..._

She turned around, but suddenly recoiled as a sizable blade swung towards her, nicking the side of her rib and slicing her backpack open, causing her to gasp sharply as a girl grabbed her neck and shoved her backwards.

Whirling in sudden pain, Aelita tumbled backwards onto the ground, but rolled aside and jumped upright, barely deflecting an incoming sword with the steel axe before turning and fleeing.

"Coward!" The girl, a brunette fully intent on killing her, screamed as she chased her through the trees again.

Thinking quickly after several strides of terror, Aelita suddenly stopped, turned around, and dove downward at the girl, colliding with her legs by surprise and knocking them out from under the tribute in a split second move as both of them ended up with a face full of leaves on the ground.

Not missing a beat and back on her feet, Aelita grabbed the axe again and pounced onto the girl, slamming her back down onto the ground momentarily. With surprising swiftness however, she rolled over and tried to tear Aelita off of her backside in an angry struggle as the both of their weapons dangerously swung around in their hands.

Legs kicking, arms and fists flailing, both of the girls wrestled for supremacy, thrashing about on the carpet of leaves in an attempt to gain an upper hand.

Aelita's hand suddenly curled around the girl's neck, and her fingernails dug in, raking her throat and trying desperately to tear the sword from her grip at the same time while holding the axe, causing the girl to stiffen in a horrible, gutteral scream as the hilt was pried from her fingers.

Grasping the sword by the blade on accident, Aelita's hand instantly protested as the blade happily dug into her fingers, cutting them open as she jerked and weakly cast the weapon aside, using her now-bleeding free hand to grab the girl's hair and jerk her head down sideways.

Jumping around from behind, Aelita's boots locked both of the girl's wrists against the ground, and she pressed the blade of the axe tightly under her chin. The tribute struggled, gritting her teeth and staring at Aelita furiously, who was staring down at the tribute herself in a position of advantage she never experienced before.

"If you... Follow me, and attack me again... I will kill you."

Aelita pushed the blade tighter against her neck for emphasis.

"...I'll cut you open so you can watch your life bleed right out of you."

A rough laugh escaped the girl's throat from the dark threat.

"Do it."

Aelita's eyes narrowed.

"I will. If I ever encounter you again."

A brutal staring contest ended in the girl carefully shaking her head.

"You won't... Weakling. Scared to kill."

Aelita's face twisted into a scowl, and she moved the axe up to the girl's exposed shoulder, and in one concise motion, dug it deeply into her skin and slowly sliced her collarbone open with the sharp corner of the blade.

Surprised and filled with sudden, horrible pain as blood began to flow, the girl produced a guttural groan, but Aelita pressed the flat side of the blade against her mouth, bottling any further sound.

"Next time, that'll be your neck." She growled, before leaping off the girl, stealing her sword, and breaking into a run as she fled the scene hastily in a flight of hurried footsteps.

_Who knows how many other tributes might have been watching that..._

She ran up the hillside in an erratic path that grew progressively steeper, rougher and rockier, ditching the sword somewhere along the way, and pausing at an open patch amongst the sea of colorful leaves above.

Grey sky, and just as she began to suspect, a mountain that was just starting to be climbed.

She sighed, and leaned back against a boulder in silence, eying her bleeding fingers.

With no way to tell the passage of time, and the sun currently hidden in the clouds, it was anybody's guess how long the Games had been going for.

_An hour could have gone by. Or maybe a few minutes. All that matters now, is that I'm alive. Two struggles, and a lot of running later, I'm miraculously alive..._


	2. Chapter 2

Aelita negotiated an unnervingly small ledge, and blinked when she happened upon a small little cave, tucked into the mossy rock walls that she had discovered on her ascent. With no visible change in the day or weather, and not much noise besides her own footsteps, she tucked inside the cave, brushing out a small amount of debris with her good hand, and setting the axe aside as she sprawled out on a small, somewhat flat spot.

She looked at her hand, stained with splotches of blood running from cuts in four fingers, and flexed it, greeted with a chorus of expected pain.

Blinking, she shifted, feeling the side of her ribcage and discovering her clothing was sticky and had a small cut through all layers.

She sat upright and took the backpack off, startled when she realized the front of it was hanging limp, cut well open by a sword that might've sliced her back open instead.

She set it aside and unzipped the black jacket, frowning when it peeled away from her side, and watching as the shirt became unstuck, with more blood visible around her wound.

Her fingers unhappily investigated it, finding it was a simple laceration. _Nothing deep, nothing fatal._

She turned around and looked out of the cave's opening to the outside world. Through gaps of nearby trees, even more trees were visible. _Nothing unusual, nothing threatening, and not a sound besides the wind._

She reached back and pulled the backpack over, at first attempting to unzip it, before resigning to simply reaching into the tear in the front and pulling out anything that greeted her fingers.

First was a steel vial, filled with a clear liquid. _Not water, but... Something medical?_

She set the vial aside, which rolled a little ways away, and fished out a strange, shiny black rock.

Her eyes pored over the surface of the rock, and she squinted at the numerous ridges on it. _Even if its a random rock, there has to be a reason for it to be in here._

She set it softly aside, and dug into the pack again, wincing as another metal object dug into her fingers. Pulling it out, she discovered the metal latch to a heavy, squat bottle - Filled to the brim with water.

_Water!_

She wet her lips with the liquid, and then snapped the latch shut again, and set it beside the vial. Water was around, but she would have to find some as soon as the bottle ran dry.

Her fingers dug around, finding a package of crackers, a small bundle of red and green apples tied together in a net, and... _An empty container._

She furrowed her eyebrows, snapping the lid shut on the plastic container, and setting it aside.

One more thing remained, mistaken at first for the backpack's insides. She tugged out a black wad of material and unfurled it, discovering a tear in the middle, just before realizing it was a sleeping bag.

Her unhurt hand investigated the hole, finding the liner inside to be soft, and quite inviting as she touched it repeatedly.

_Even with a tear, its still a sleeping bag._

She took her jacket off and knelt down, spreading the bag out on the floor of the cave and unzipping it.

Quite tempted to snuggle up inside, she resisted the thought, and grabbed her backpack, tossing it to the back of the cave, and then popping the lid of the container back open, and placing the bottle, vial, rock, and crackers inside.

She set the net of apples atop the plastic lid, but curiosity got the best of her as her hand hovered over the container.

She plucked the vial of liquid, unscrewed the lid, and with hesitation, poured a small puddle into her palm, touching it with the tips of her other fingers, and then touching her side. The wound began to sting, and she inhaled sharply as she pressed her fingers against the cut, rubbing them around.

The cut was now bubbling with foam, and she kept her palm held against it, grimacing as she sat down.

Her fist then curled as she pressed her cut fingers into the rest of the liquid, and likewise, they began to sting as the cuts began to foam.

_Some kind of peroxide._

A cooling sensation greeted all five of the cuts afterward, and she shivered as she screwed the lid back onto the vial and dropped it back into the container.

_Cold air, cold wind, cold skin, and cold wounds._

She tore the net open and retrieved an apple, wound her jacket into a ball, and then shuffled inside the sleeping bag, sinking her teeth into the fruit as she drug the jacket up beneath her head, turning it into a pillow.

Chewing and swallowing the bite of apple, she settled, relaxing as warmth slowly built up inside the bag.

Even if she was on a floor of rock, there was marginal comfort.

Her eyes rose up to the rough, curved ceiling a few feet above her head, and she bit into the apple again.

After all the luxury, it was back to the old ways of day-to-day rationing. And if it ever came to it, pilfering for survival. Something that even the Capitol didn't know about her...

* * *

***POW***

Aelita's eyes flew open from a doze, and she sat upright, staring out into the distance

***POW***

_Cannon fire._

***POW***

***POW***

_Dead tributes are finally being tallied up._

***POW***

_And families are already crying._

***POW***

***POW***

***POW***

***POW***

_Jeez. Nine dead already._

***POW***

_Ten._

***POW***

_Eleven..._

She rolled her eyes, but no more blasts of distant cannon echoed through the air.

_Eleven tributes dead out of twenty four. Almost half the whole field gone._

_And still a light grey, overcast sky._

Her head sank down, and she shut her eyes.

_Time to rest._

* * *

_Music._

The blaring sound of the Capitol's anthem filled the air, pulling Aelita out of a light sleep, and introducing her to the darkness of night.

_What on earth are they playing music for?_

She blinked as trumpets began to play on the recording, and then gasped.

_Fallen tributes!_

She quickly sat up and crawled forward, peeking out of the mouth of the cave.

Up in the sky, almost out of sight among the trees, a white light appeared with the seal of Panem, and the words 'The Fallen' showed briefly. Then, portraits began to show:

_Glint, from District 1._

_The girl from District 4._

_Both tributes from District 5._

_The boy from District 7._

_Both girls from District 9 and District 10._

_Both tributes from District 11, and then both from District 12._

The anthem faded, the seal vanished, and the low ambiance of crickets and other night creatures resumed as Aelita blew a relieved breath from her lungs.

_Odd's still alive. Its just a matter of finding him now._

She retreated back into the black safety of the little cave and settled onto her back again, rearranging the jacket pillow, and taking another bite out of the apple as she tucked herself inside the sleeping bag again.

_Tomorrow. Keep moving up the mountain, and find water._

Her eyes shut, content with having a plan. _Its risky no matter what, but who knows what ugly surprises are about to be revealed in the arena anyway..._


	3. Chapter 3

The rumble of an explosion in the distance forced Aelita's eyes open again.

A few minutes later, a flicker of light filled the darkness of the cave, and she pushed herself upright.

Crackling, and then a rumbling, roaring melody. Instead of a cannon or explosion, her ears were filled with thunder from above.

A ominous layer of clouds in the sky blanketed everything below in a layer of darkness. All color was subdued by the thunderstorm that rolled in during the wee morning hours.

_Or was it morning?_

Aelita yawned as she escaped the sleeping bag, and pulled on the wadded-up coat, zipping it up and sitting back for a moment as the land was lit by another momentary flash - And then blasted with another round of thunder.

It _has to be morning. My body won't let me sleep more than 12 hours..._

She crawled forward on her knees, and peeked out of the cave up into the sky. Black trees rose up into the blanket of gloom over the arena, and in the distance, a spot of lighter grey hid the sun, a horizon across from where it had previously set.

_Morning._

She rolled up the sleeping bag, snapped the lid shut on the container, and retrieved the backpack, unzipping it and shoving everything inside. She then stared at the tear in the front, trying to figure out a way to keep the contents from disappearing through it.

_Both buckle straps are ruined, but these two have potential..._

She reached back, plucked the axe from the floor, and cut a gash into the middle of the flap, pulling it down and feeding the remaining straps through the hole before tying them together in a temporary knot. She jerked both the flap and the straps apart, but the knot held and stayed within, and the flap covered the tear effectively, held tightly against the pack.

She smiled and slung the pack over her shoulder, jostling it around some as a further test, but it stayed together.

_Knot tying wasn't a complete waste during training..._

She poked out of the cave, took one last look back inside, and threw the eaten apple core somewhere into the trees before venturing cautiously back along the ledge. This time, it was dark. And she had no idea how far the fall below was.

Another flash of lightning lit up the path, and she timidly walked along, pausing as the rumble of thunder made her skin crawl.

Step after careful step, her boots gripped the rock, and her hands ran along and clutched parts of the wall, until the ledge sank down, and she found herself on the grassy dirt slope of the mountain. Her eyes wandered up the hillside, and before her, the mountain still loomed in a dark silhouette against the sky.

Something shuffled in the trees behind, and she kicked into gear, running up the hill. _Probably a bird or a squirrel, but I'm not about to take any chances._

* * *

Thunder roared with ferocity as she scaled a boulder, moving on her hands and feet up a steep slope just beyond. The mountain was proving to be much more challenging than it looked.

After a period of climbing, she stopped to take a momentary rest, pleased to find the backpack was still together as she fished out the bottle of water, and drank a gulp before stowing it again.

She exhaled, sitting on a clump of grass, watching the silhouette of a distant bird circling in the sky. Her eyes lazily lowered to the trees, but then to her horror, discovered somebody was walking up along the slope below.

_Towards me._

She scrambled backwards before turning around, and a sizable rock was kicked free and began to happily tumble down the hillside. Each bounce was clearly audible as it passed the figure below, causing them to pause, and look up at the source.

Which caused Aelita to storm up the slope in abject terror.

Something metal ricocheted twice up in front of her, and she diverted to the side and struggled up the face of another small boulder, encountering a field of broken, jagged chunks of rock just beyond. She ducked around one before pressing against its flank, ceasing any further sounds besides her shallow breath as hurried footsteps nearby filled the otherwise silent air.

An eerie crackle of thunder sounded in the distance, and a weary male voice grunted.

"...I know you're here!"

Her eyes grew wide as boots carelessly kicked pebbles and tufts of grass, and her hands slid down to the rubber grip on the axe.

_An unknown male opponent, closing in._

_This might just spell death._

She sidestepped, moving alongside the rock and keeping her head low, but paused, alarmed by the following silence.

Her fingers firmly gripped the contours of the handle, and her eyes watched the edge of the rock, waiting. Waiting for the inevitable.

Another flash, another crackle of thunder, and her hair stood on end. Footsteps resumed, and she looked to the right warily, unable to identify which direction they were coming from.

Something appeared in the corner of her eye, and she turned her head, suddenly gasping as the tribute appeared a few feet away, but as soon as he began to withdraw a knife after being startled, Aelita stomped over and swung her arms around in a speedy arc -

\- And the black blade of a double bit axe was buried into his stomach.

The knife simply dropped from his hand as he looked down, and then at Aelita, who's eyes rose up to his. He coughed, and blood began to run out of his mouth as his breathing turned into convulsions.

After a moment of attempted speech, he fell backwards, and the axe sickeningly jerked back out of him, leaving it dripping with a coat of blood as his body crumpled, and came to rest on the ground.

Aelita stared at the corpse, and the wide gash in his stomach. And then at the weapon in her hands.

_Oh god._

A blast of cannon, and her head sunk down as she stared at the ground below, her insides twisting and churning in disgust, and her mind replaying the scene in vivid, permanent detail.

_Twelve tributes dead. And I just murdered one of them._

She slowed her breathing as her mouth turned sour, and wiped both sides of the axe against a tuft of grass on the ground, before stepping forward and breaking into a run.

_I have to get out of here. Fast._

* * *

Only a minute after running, she grew dizzy and slowed, finally stopping and sinking to her knees as her hands and arms began to tingle, and her head grew light. She knew exactly what was coming, and tucked several locks of hair aside with one hand.

At first, she convulsed in dry heaves. But then her insides found what they were looking for, and she started vomiting repeatedly.

_A breakfast that didn't go down well... Coming back up just as badly._

Her throat and mouth burned, and she coughed as her insides angrily rejected the previous meal, trying to get rid of every last trace of it.

Breathing sharp and fast, she grimaced with tears in her eyes as her stomach finally calmed down, and slowly sat upright, swallowing repeatedly as she tried to rid her mouth of her own stomach acid and vomit.

_And to think this is all on camera..._

She pushed herself up and stumbled along miserably, trying to find a shady spot somewhere. Anywhere she could curl up and hide in.

Tripping over several rocks with blurry vision, she sank down and came to rest against the rough trunk of a tree.

Her face found a smooth spot, and she lay still, shaking and tingling.

_I just killed somebody. Not even an adult. Some kid that's probably not even 18. Chasing me, and pulling a knife as soon as he found me._

_Intent on killing me. So I killed him out of self defense._

Her eyes sank.

_I killed somebody to keep myself alive, and now one more family is ruined somewhere in Panem. More people that want my blood._

She brought her legs up, and wrapped her arms tightly around them, setting the axe onto the ground next to her boots.

_Capitol people find the murdering and bloodshed entertaining. District people do not._

Her hand picked up a leaf, and after a moment of looking at the fading brownish color, she crushed it inside a curled fist, and let the remains drop to the ground.

_I wonder if somebody found my vomiting entertaining. Cause I certainly didn't._

A bird dropped to the ground nearby and hopped about in the leaves, poking around for insects, and she watched it with mild curiosity.

_A Mockingjay._

A gust of wind blew through and sent many leaves flying and twirling, and the bird took flight and vanished.

Aelita's eyes wandered, and she sighed.

_Maybe its time I took flight and vanished, too._

* * *

Her feet led her somewhere as she stumbled along, her mind clouded with twisted, relapsing memories.

_Rock. Tree. Dead and falling leaves._

_Nothing seems to change anywhere I go... Trapped in a windy, autumnal hell with no sense of direction._

Out in an open area amongst the trees, she paused, looking out at the forest stretching beyond to the horizon.

_How big are these arenas?_

She sat down and crossed her legs, and breathed deeply through her nose. Leaves swirled around, and she scooped armfuls from around herself onto her lap, burying her legs under a sizable pile.

After a moment, she blinked.

_Camouflage. Leaves make great camouflage._

She settled onto her back and spread more leaves onto herself, watching as some blew away, only to be casually replaced by others wandering past from the wind.

_At night, it would be almost impossible to notice somebody laying under a blanket of leaves. Unless you stepped on them._

_In that case, you'd already be dead._

In light of her conclusion, a raindrop dropped upon her cheekbone, and she looked up at the sky as the pattering of rain on the leaves grew steadily audible.

_Rain._

_Maybe the thunderstorm had a purpose after all..._

She rose to her feet, brushing leaves off her jacket and pants, and looked around as trees swayed from the breezes, and raindrops fell through the air.

_Everything would be so beautiful. If I wasn't in an arena, and hadn't just murdered someone..._

The rain picked up considerably, and she looked back up into the sky with a frown as it began to pour.

_Time to keep moving..._

She pulled the hood of her jacket over her head and tucked her hands inside the sleeves, trudging forward out of the clearing and continuing in a slow pace around the side of the mountain.

_Elevation's desirable, but being familiar with the forest is good too. Especially if you have to run and hide somewhere in a hurry..._

* * *

The jacket's hood muffled the now-heavy rainfall, and she stood, arms crossed, under the cover of a nearby aspen. Her throat complained as she swallowed, and she dug out her water bottle, finishing the rest of the water inside.

_At least there's rain..._

She stepped out from under the tree's cover and held the bottle out, waiting patiently as a fraction of the rainfall found its way inside the small neck of the bottle.

One gulp later, and it was all gone again. She sighed and continued walking, holding the bottle upright as she wound her way around the usual obstacles, now slick with water.

An unseen drop caused her to yelp as her foot slipped and was then soaked by a gushing stream of water. She pulled the boot back out, startled by the surprise, but then curious as her eyes followed the stream uphill.

_Water._

She snapped the lid shut on the bottle, stowed it, and then turned and trudged up the hillside, following the water's winding path as it cut through the soil and wandered around rocks and tufts of plants.

She wandered up into a rough, steep gulley, and began to negotiate numerous slippery rocks, watching with disappointment as the stream trickled into nothing.

Nothing but the rain's work.

She surveyed the area, and her eyes wandered up along a consistent waterfall, flowing from a ridge just above a narrow hollow in the rock.

Stepping over towards it, she did a double take, and stood on her toes. _A cave!_

She hurried up to the wall, and tested the jagged rocks with her hands, finding them to be just as wet as everything else. She then pulled herself up, and the boots found perches upon the rock wall, causing her to toss the axe up onto the ledge above to free her hand. Another step upward though, and the next foothold simply broke loose from the wall, and she clutched the rock in alarm, before finding another spot for her foot and struggling up and over onto the ledge.

Standing to her feet, she eyed the spot. _Not as nice as the last cave, but longer, narrower, and still dry. And for the time being, there was water._

She retrieved the metal bottle, popped the lid open, and daintily held it out under the waterfall, watching as it was filled, and began to overflow within moments.

After one cautious sip, she began to gulp it down, only to refill it again, and consume it all within moments.

Another refill, and she washed her mouth out, finally ridding herself of the horrible taste plaguing her tongue.

She filled it up one last time, snapped the lid shut, and set the bottle down, picking up the axe, and holding it at arm's length as the blade was splashed by the falling water, and the coat of dry blood finally vanished.

_Too bad you can't wash memories away this easily..._

She set the weapon aside and washed her own hands, and discovering the healing of the cuts on her fingers, she pulled back the hood, unzipped her jacket, threw it aside, and inspected the cut in her side.

She wet her hand with water and gently rubbed it, watching as the shirt dampened, and blood from the cloth and around the wound moved to her hand. After a rinse, she wet the shirt more and then squeezed it, watching with approval as a trace of blood squeezed right out of it, and the laceration was now clean, free to heal.

She rinsed her hand once more, and then wet both and rubbed her face with water, focusing on her eyes and around her mouth.

A gargle, and then an exhale. _Such a wonderful feeling to be marginally clean again..._

She turned and inspected the diagonal wall above the ledge, and then picked up a lone stick off the floor, using it to brush stray rocks away, casting them off into the gulley. She then tapped it on the rock below, and set the stick beside the axe, suddenly grimacing as the ache of her feet and sharp hunger set in.

She rolled her eyes as she undid the knot of the backpack straps, and began to set up camp.

_Now you want food... Make up your mind, stomach._

She unrolled the sleeping bag, balled up the jacket inside out, pulled both boots off, and opened the package of crackers. Putting one inside her mouth, she carefully chewed and swallowed it, waiting for a reaction from inside.

But nothing happened, except for a grumble.

Another cracker, and she closed the package, storing it inside the container. Gotta make those last...

She spotted the net of apples again, and sighed.

_The first one didn't stand a chance._

She plucked another one, set it on a flat spot, and with some reluctance, used the opposite blade of the axe to cut it in half - Which it did with worrying ease.

Picking up one of the halves, she then eyed the dark, steel weapon that sat in her lap as she bit into the apple.

_Somehow, I need to tie this onto something to free up my hands._

Another bite, and she shivered from the wind winding through the frigid rainfall. She then leaned the axe against the backpack, ready to be grabbed at a moment's notice, and crawled down into the sleeping bag, huddling inside and eating the apple.

With the tear against the rock floor, she zipped up the side, and rested her head upon the jacket, laying silently as the bag slowly grew warm against her skin, and watching the rainfall cascade down.

_A blessing, after all. Cleaning and cloaking me... Even if only for a little while..._


	4. Chapter 4

A blonde boy stood, face downcast with remorse, as Caesar Flickerman lifted his hand into the air with his trademark grin and laugh.

_"Odd Della Robbia... This year's victor, of the fifty-seventh annual Hunger Games!"_

* * *

Aelita's eyes opened as a sharp pain crept into her backside, forcing her completely out of sleep, and thrusting her back into reality.

_A very sinister reality._

She sat upright, reaching her arm back and massaging the ache, realizing that the air was now silent, dark, and filled with thick blue-grey fog. She breathed a sigh as she held herself up with both of her arms, but then furrowed her eyebrows from the nearby crackle of flame.

Leaning over towards the edge of the cave and looking around, a low glow further down the gulley below flickered and moved as wood audibly popped and snapped.

_Fire._

She retreated back into the sleeping bag, hiding and regaining warmth in silence. _Even if the fire is an obvious distraction, there's still another tribute a short distance away. Best thing to do is stay out of sight until morning._

_Lying in wait..._

Her head settled to the side, and her eyes peeked out of the top of the bag, tiredly watching the sky above.

_If anybody dies in the meantime, the cannon will have no trouble awaking me... Hopefully._

* * *

Hours later, her eyes peeped open.

The fog remained, but early blue sky was trying hard to filter through the layer, and the sun's warmth lifted clouds of steam from the surface below.

She stretched, and remembering the local visitor only hours before, her mind groggily shifted into gear.

_Jacket on, bag rolled up, stuff inside container, container and bag inside backpack, backpack... On my back._

She zipped up the jacket, pulled on the cold, damp boots, and took several large bites out of the remains of the second apple, casting the core across the gulley after the last swallow.

She gripped the axe, eying it with a moment of guilt, before tucking her hand up under the blades, and walking over to the far end of the cave. Her foot sank down to the small foothold below, and she daintily lowered herself further, swapping feet, and moving her other foot down against the wall, a few feet above the ground below.

Positioning herself, she put one hand on the rock, the other propped against the rock wall, and her other foot cautiously floated in the air. With a small lean and push, she fell to the ground, and landed squarely on her feet with remarkable silence.

_Silent as a thief..._

Her head turned back, looking down the gulley.

_The fog's still thick enough..._

Her curiosity was unbearable as she picked up a rock from below. _Distracting the tribute would be easy. The hard part was getting close enough, and then getting away._

She sidled around several large rocks, stepping on and over hundreds of stones, and kept her footfall quiet and precise as she eased closer, pausing and hiding with increasing regularity.

The smell of burning coals greeted her nose, and she gripped the rock in her right hand, peeking around a sizable smooth boulder. Sure enough, the boy from District 4, sporting a bandaged wrist and matted hair, was poking at the fire with a stick as he sat next to a pair of spears.

Aelita sank down, tilted back, and then chucked the rock high into the air, disappearing from sight down the gulley.

After a moment, the sharp crack of the rock's impact pierced the air, and she smiled as the tribute grunted, and his attention went towards the source of the sound temporarily. She picked up another rock, smaller than before, and with a quick jerk, threw it up into the air, and waited in silence.

The low patter of stone beyond, the shuffle of footsteps on rock, and something metal falling to the ground filled her ears. She peeked around it, and grinned in surprise as the boy walked cautiously away, gripping one of the spears in frustration.

_Time to move._

Aelita ducked around the rock, and with a few bounds closer, she sank down and crawled forward, coming up to the smoking group of coals. The fallen object, being the second spear, sat useless on the ground, and she quickly perused the immediate area around the campfire.

_A backpack, a bowl, a curved chunk of metal... Aha! Rope!_

She grabbed the rope, stuck it around her arm and slid it up her sleeve, and with one glance towards the boy beyond, he was still walking. She peeked inside the bowl, and inside sat several burnt strips of meat.

_Food._

With delicate fingers, she plucked one out, and with one more glance at the clueless boy, she ducked down and hastily left the scene.

Dodging around rock after rock, she moved with speed up the rising gulley, sifting through the fading fog, and growing almost ecstatic with success as she stormed up a hillside, finally escaping the mess of rocks below.

She paused, bit into the chunk of the meat, and began to chew on it, greeted with crispy, meaty goodness.

_Real food._

She continued further up the hill, sinking into the shady cover of trees, and after several minutes of running briskly, she sat down on the damp bed of leaves below and quickly opened up her backpack, tucking the sliver of meat inside the container, and then redoing the knot and pulling the backpack straps over her shoulders again.

_By now, that tribute is either furious from being duped, or totally dumbfounded._

_Wish I could see his face right now..._

She rose and settled onto her knees, taking the coil of rope off her arm and pulling it apart to its full length, setting it atop the axe. There was infinite potential, but seeing the rope upon the weapon, her mind clicked.

_A makeshift holster!_

She picked up the rope and wrapped it around her waist twice, tying a knot off on the right of her hip, and then brought the axe up, tying a loop around the handle just below the blade, and securing both as tightly as possible, leaving two small tails of rope leftover. She jostled the weapon around and stepped around on the ground, shaking her hips around somewhat, before having a brief moment of laughter.

_That was also on camera._

She then tugged the axe up by its blade, and the shaft slid right out of the knot, ready for action.

As a final test, she worked the handle back into the loop knot, and with a downward tug, the axe stayed put, resting against the jacket above her right hip.

_Secure, convenient, and out of the way._

A squirrel leaped across branches somewhere above, and she stepped back into motion.

_Gotta keep moving..._

* * *

Markell sat, drink in hand, on a stone bench in the massive courtyard near the training center. He reclined with a content smile, fixated on one of the massive screens in the distance as Aelita's formerly brief appearances suddenly became one long focus as her successful theft was played across Panem.

A melody of excitement, anger, cheers and jeers mingled in the open air, and he chuckled as she tested the strength of the rope around her waist, and took a sip of the drink. Sponsors hadn't even crossed his mind. Maybe if she started running low on food...

He pursed his lips for a moment.

_For being some poor girl from District 3, she's doing surprising well with fending for herself. Even to the point of pulling off successful thievery._

His eyes sank, focusing on the smooth concrete below his shoes.

_Somebody's home life is clearly being reflected in the arena..._

Another swallow of liquor, and his eyes found the screen again as her red hair made a reappearance, bobbing along as she darted up the mountainside.

_One deadly standoff, one pursuit, and only one kill so far. Not to mention the sharp reactions of the Capitol audience as she vomited her guts out after killing that boy..._

_People seem to forget that some teenage children don't handle murdering and death very well._

The screen briefly showed the blonde boy, and Markell leaned forward.

_The boy from 8 is still alive._

The screen changed, and he reclined again, rubbing the bristles on his chin.

_Hopefully he and Aelita can find each other before its too late..._

* * *

Aelita stopped, taking a breath. The air was getting colder, and it was obvious she was getting higher, but more of the mountain still rose into the sky before her. Trees were getting noticeably thinner in number, and many were dead and devoid of leaves as the wind wound through the bare branches.

Her eyes rose into the sky, welcoming the sight of deep, light blue nothingness beyond.

_Not a cloud after yesterday's storm..._

She quickly withdrew the bottle of water, and took a small gulp before snapping the lid shut and stowing it. The axe remained faithfully tied to her waist, and the backpack was still holding together.

She stepped forward, keeping her head on a swivel as she wandered into the open expanse of a a grassy hill, dotted with patches of wildflowers and stones. Up above, several ridges of rock and only occasional patches of trees were present in the higher elevation.

She walked up a ways towards one of the ridges, catching her eye from what appeared to be another shallow cave in the distance.

Wind swirled, blowing the tufts of grasses left and right and flicking her hair around. She reached down and plucked one of the flowers, which was a simple little white one with purple on the inside of the petals, tucking it into the zipper handle of her jacket as she went along.

Finally nearing the ridge, the rock wall and overhang came into clear detail, but there was no cave. Just a shadow above a small ledge. With reluctance, she poked underneath, discovering the overhang wasn't very high either.

She sat in the middle, and after turning, hung her legs over the side. Before her, the arena spread out below in a massive, stretching expanse, covered with a sea of turning and dying trees, and groups of smaller hills rising in the distance.

_Not only are the arenas far and wide, they're tall too... And, with the elements and animals, very realistic. If not an actual zone of land._

She furrowed her eyebrows.

_That would explain a lot, actually._

Quiet footsteps filled her ears, and her eyes grew wide as they drew to a stop, followed by a sigh of breath.

Something was unsheathed, and Aelita suddenly jumped to her feet and pressed back against the rock wall, but the scuffle of her boots and backpack were plenty audible.

No doubt for the reason for the following silence.

Aelita's eyes darted back and forth. Breathing slow and silent. Two more steps, and then nothing.

Her hands slowly began to pull the axe out of the rope loop, only to stop when she was startled by an apprehensive voice.

"...Hello?"

Her eyebrows furrowed, and she pushed the axe back down as the word hung in the air.

Taking delicate steps forward, fully aware of the potential danger, she moved out, and turned around. Peeking up above the overhang, her mouth simply opened as her eyes discovered the source of the voice, staring down at her.

"Odd?"

The blonde blinked in disbelief.

"Aelita!"

He stepped forward and sank to his knees, peering over the edge, and taking in the living, breathing, beautiful young girl before him.

"...Aelita."

She stared up at him, filled to the brim with a rush of excitement and relief.

"Odd, You're alive... I... Was never too sure every time I woke up..."

He smiled, holding his finger to his lips for a moment.

"I'm here in front of you, aren't I?"

She blushed, shutting her eyes for a few seconds.

"...I'm not entirely sure."

He grinned, and lowered his arms down to her.

"Then let me give you a helping hand."

She reached up, clasping her hands into his, and with unexpected ease, he pulled her up, and she walked up the side of the rock wall, before being tugged over the edge, and suddenly finding herself laying on top of him. After a moment of realization, a choked laugh escaped Aelita's throat, and they squeezed each other in the tightest hug possible.

Odd moved his chin up against her neck, and she shifted slightly, pulling the axe from her hip and setting it aside, before slumping down on him again.

"You don't know how glad I am to see you again."

She sniffed, and turned her head, touching her nose against his cheek.

"I was starting to miss you too."

He smiled, pushing both himself and her upright, causing her to move off and sit beside him.

After a pause of looking out at the arena beyond, and then at each other, Aelita reached her hand out, and he scooped it inside his own.

"Where were you at the cornucopia... When the games began?"

"Facing the mouth. Where were you?"

"Looking at the tail." She spoke, eyes sinking.

They rose again to his, and his expression was pained.

"That explains why I didn't see you at all... Did you run?"

"Of course I did... I got the axe, got my backpack, and then ran away."

"I blasted off the pedestal... Got myself this thing, and barely avoided being cut open as I left the scene with a pack."

He withdrew a sizable machete, made of the same polished black steel as her axe, and she watched it carefully as he sheathed it again.

Her worried expression caught his eye, and he squeezed her hand.

"What's wrong?"

"...Just reminded me of the boy the other day."

His eyebrow rose, and she sighed.

"Which District?"

"I don't know... Never did find out."

Her eyes wandered back up to Odd's, and he watched her carefully.

"I killed him, Odd. With this stupid axe. He followed me, and was about to stab me, so I swung this thing into him."

She lifted the axe, and held it up in front of both of them.

"It was bloody. _Awful_. And now I'm forever responsible for killing the twelfth tribute this year."

He hesitated.

"That was you?"

Her eyes shut in a grimace.

"...Yes."

He leaned over as she set the weapon aside, and for a few quiet minutes, their heads and shoulders pressed together, and Odd's thumb rubbed the knuckle of her index finger as their fingers stayed together, mingling between each other.

Eventually, curiosity crept into both of them, and Odd was the first to take off his backpack, causing Aelita to follow suit in seconds as they both set theirs in front of them. He laughed as he saw the knot of straps, but as soon as she undid it, the gash from the sword became glaringly apparent.

"Jeez... Your back wasn't cut, was it?"

"My side got a little cut... It's fine now, but the sword got awful close to doing a lot worse."

He moved his left arm over, and turned it, watching as she touched her finger to a long cut along the underside his forearm.

"Could've been a lot worse too."

She turned and unzipped her backpack, and then pulled out the sleeping bag, revealing the large tear in it.

"This didn't fare so well against the sword."

Odd took it out of her hands, and looked it over.

"Be glad you even have one."

She watched as he eyed her pointedly, before pulling out the plastic container and water bottle, and then tossing the backpack aside. Her axe appeared next to the container as she pried the lid open, and she looked over as he unwrapped two short loaves of bread, a canteen of water, a slingshot, and a small bottle of ointment.

She plucked the slice of meat out of hers and took a sizable bite out of it, before handing the remaining half to Odd, who readily accepted it and bit into it himself.

The tube of peroxide was set beside the water bottle, and Odd blinked as she pulled out and looked over the black rock.

"I don't really know why I ended up with this."

"Don't you know what that is?"

She turned and eyed Odd.

"...It's a rock."

He pulled it out of her hand, eying it in his own palm.

"It's _Flint_."

She stared at him.

"What's so special about it?"

Odd grinned, picking up her axe.

"It can do this."

He held the flint up besides one of the blades of her axe, and with a quick jerk forward, a brief shower of sparks spewed from where the rock struck the steel.

Her mouth opened, and he handed both back to her.

"You haven't even made a fire, have you?"

She shook her head, daintily setting the flint stone into the container again as he stuffed everything of his back inside the backpack.

As an afterthought, he cut a quick slice from one of the loaves of bread, and handed it to her before packing the rest away.

She took it and bit into it, and he quickly shoved everything of hers inside her backpack.

"We've been staying put for a little too long... And there's something I think you should see further up this mountain."

She held the bread in her mouth, quickly re-tied the strap knot, and then stood, slipping the backpack over her shoulders, and tucking the axe back into the rope belt, before finishing the slice of bread.

Odd stepped over and jostled the axe for a moment, nodding as it defiantly stayed put.

"That's pretty clever."

She smiled.

"I stole the rope this morning."

His eyebrow rose with interest. Thievery was his secret ability too.

"Then you did well. Let's get moving."

They turned and started up the mountainside, and for the first time since the Games began, both of them were together as a team. No longer restricted by the Capitol's enforcement, but no longer protected by it either. All they could do now, was fight for survival, and hope one of them makes it out of the arena alive...


	5. Chapter 5

Aelita looked over at Odd's face on occasion as both of them hiked together. His eyes kept to the terrain in front of him as they wandered around the mountain in an upward spiral, and not a word was spoken as they went.

The silence between them was not from suspicion, but a lack of privacy. Both of them were well aware that a million eyes and ears in Panem were their unseen audience, and that another tribute could be anywhere nearby. It was best to keep conversation to a minimum. One careless statement could either get them killed in the arena, or cause a lot of trouble back home.

Two ridges of rock, and scaling a unnervingly steep and unstable pile of loose landslide debris later, Odd held his arm out, and both of them paused in silence.

A distant exchange of voices among the whispers of wind caused him to sigh.

"I was afraid of that."

"Of what?"

He turned to Aelita.

"You'll see."

They stepped forward, and just around a sizable boulder, Odd crouched down onto a small grassy slope.

Aelita peeked around the corner, and then simply stopped.

Before her, in the distance, a forlorn building stood, built into the mountainside. Fading blue paint and spots of rust and decay. A small covered bridge leading to a pile of debris, and a tall, spindly steel smokestack just beyond.

_A mine._

Her eyes weren't deceiving her, down at the cornucopia.

Just below the covered bridge, a group of people sat under a tent, surrounded by supplies.

_Careers._

As soon as she realized this, Odd tugged her down by her arm, and she settled onto the hillside next to him.

"I saw this building. Right when the Games were about to begin. Standing on the pedestal."

"So did I." Odd spoke in a hushed voice. "I was the first to get up here, but I had a feeling the place would be occupied after a day or so... Turns out I was right."

Aelita carefully peeked over the top of the hill again.

"Have you been inside?"

"Not yet."

She looked at him, and a small smile crept onto his face.

"There's no way we're passing up shelter like that though."

Aelita sunk behind the slope, and then turned and settled onto her back.

"How do you suggest we get in there without being killed?"

His eyebrow rose as he dug out the canteen of water, and took a sip before passing it to her.

"We sneak our way in."

* * *

_Run. Stop. Run._

_Moving swiftly, waiting silently._

Aelita crouched next to Odd, both of them keeping a wary eye on on the ridge above. The tailings pile from the mine, yellowish in color from sulfur, was just a few bounds up the mountain.

In the blink of an eye, Odd sped into motion again, and Aelita dashed along behind, trying to keep her footfall safe rather than silent like the blonde. He screeched to a halt and crouched low under a thin bush, and Aelita stopped just below him, and within seconds, he was moving again, and she struggled for purchase on the soil below before catching up behind him.

Another pause later, and she grabbed his shirt sleeve, but before she could speak, he touched his fingers to her mouth, and both hunkered down in silence as nearby footsteps trailed slowly away and somebody spoke.

_"Never mind... Thought I heard something over here."_

Odd slowly turned to her, and her eyes flicked around until he withdrew his hand when the footsteps faded to nothing.

An exchange of looks later, and she sighed, resigning to silence as he got ready to run again.

Bursting into action, both of them hustled and stormed up the mountainside, and Aelita looked over her shoulder as the mine effectively disappeared from view.

Now on an exposed slope, out of sight of the tributes below, they slowed to a halt, and Odd turned towards the mine, scrutinizing the land as it sloped down to the structure.

"There's a second story... On the main part of the building... We'll get in there at some point, but it needs to be darker."

Aelita, also catching her breath, stepped over and gently gripped the collar of his shirt in her fist.

"And in the meantime, we're gonna wait patiently and not run around everywhere."

Odd eyed her, and then his eyes wandered back down to the mine.

"Alright."

* * *

With the smokestack towering in plain sight in front of both of them, the pair settled in a small depression in the hillside. Setting their backpacks and weapons aside, both of them leaned back against the slope behind, and began to wait in silence.

Aelita watched the moon rise in the distance, and breathed a deep sigh as her eyes lifted into the sky above. The blue sky, sprinkled with thin wisps of clouds, was starting to fade and darken in color, but nightfall wasn't about to come quickly.

Her mind worked and wandered greatly in the meantime, and thoughts of home filtered into her consciousness.

_Home. District 3. Surely they're watching me right now..._

_Lots of people are watching me. Us._

Her eyes touched upon Odd briefly before flicking away, and she watched as the moon cheekily hid behind the smokestack just beyond.

People from District 8 are probably watching us too.

_I wonder what 3 and 8 think of us... Maybe they're waiting for some traitorous murder to happen._

Her heart panged, and she looked at the blonde.

_Would he do that?_

_No. Why would anybody go to such great lengths on a lie. If he wanted to kill me, he already would have... Right?_

Her eyes sank, only to rise again. The moon peeked out from the opposite side of the smokestack, and her heart beat with worry.

_Would Odd kill me to win?_

_He does have his family to go home to..._

She looked at the blonde, startled to see him watching her curiously, before both of them looked away again.

_Would Odd kill me... After all those little moments, all his teaching and support, and after being so glad to find me, alive and well, hours ago?_

_'...I just hope she'll trust me...'_

_Do I trust him?_

The moon was now a good distance from the smokestack, and the sky was getting steadily darker.

_...Should I?_

Another turn of the head, and after a moment, the blonde noticed her.

"Aelita... You clearly have something on your mind."

"I'm just thinking."

"About what?"

"Things."

His attention was fully set on her from her response.

"...Things?"

Her eyes sank. _Enough was enough._

"Okay... I'm worried you're going to slit my throat while I'm sleeping."

He stared at her, his eyes showing a mixture of shock and worry under furrowed eyebrows.

After a moment, his mouth opened and shut, and she watched him carefully as he weighed his thoughts.

"...Do you think I'd do that to you?"

"I don't know, Odd! Would you?"

Her expression softened as pain registered on his face, and then his voice.

"Aelita... How would I ever live with myself... If I killed you, and went on to win?"

Her throat tightened.

"...You think I would just skip happily along back home, knowing that I murdered the most wonderful, beautiful girl I've ever known, just so I could survive and be a victor?"

Her head sank, but he still wanted to drive the point home.

"Why in the world... Would I go through so much effort and heartache to help you, just to waste it away with selfish arrogance?"

She turned away and buried her face in her knees, covering her head with the sleeves of her jacket.

The blonde looked away, and sat still in the silence that followed his words.

He stole another glance at her, watching as she trembled, quietly weeping.

_That's what she gets for doubting my loyalty..._

* * *

Several minutes later, he shook his head at himself in the darkness of dusk. Even if he proved a point, he felt awful for making her so sad.

Finally, he leaned over and surrounded Aelita with both arms, and pulled her tightly against himself, causing her to unfurl as her knees lowered and her head rested upon his shoulder.

Her arms squeezed his sides, and he sighed, feeling her shake. With the sun gone, it was starting to get a lot colder.

He looked up into the sky, watching as the steam of his breath rose into the sky under the moonlight.

"It's getting cold real fast... I think its about time we find some shelter."

She lifted her head from his shoulder, and his hands went up and touched her cheeks.

"You're freezing Aelita"

Her eyes rose to his, and his hands dropped, collecting hers.

"...You're totally miserable right now, and I feel terrible because of it. We're getting out of here before it gets any colder."

He stood up, scooped both backpacks up with one arm, and kept a firm hold of her hand as she stood to her feet, and within seconds, both of them tiptoed downhill towards the mine, under the shadow of the smokestack towering above.

* * *

Both of them stayed deathly silent as they approached the building, keeping alongside a small path that led to the second story of the structure. With the campfire and tributes clearly visible down below the bridge, Odd kept Aelita close as they tiptoed along a small, catwalk, and vanished inside the door-less entrance.

Greeted with a solid, bare floor, Odd set both backpacks down, and Aelita sat next to them as he ran his hands along the interior. Three short walls, and one squat window. A room much smaller than it looked.

He returned to her side, and she gripped his hand in the darkness as he opened her backpack with the other. After momentary searching, he pulled out the metal water bottle and set it in front of her, and then pulled out the sleeping bag, releasing her hand and unrolling it.

Finding the zipper, he opened the side slightly and spread it out behind her, causing her to turn and open it further, crawling inside as he pried open the lid to her container, and then opened his own backpack, and pulled out one of the loaves of bread.

The bags were shuffled around, and Aelita closed her eyes after the lid to her container was shut again.

Seconds later, they opened again when he appeared next to her.

"Dinner." He whispered, dropping a apple and the loaf of bread into her hands.

She pulled both inside, and he unzipped the bag further, causing her to move to the side as he shuffled into the bag, and zipped it up.

After a moment, she cautiously moved back over, settling upon him on her back, and he surrounded her in a cuddling hug, smiling as she bit into the loaf of bread, and set her head to the side just below his collarbone.

"Cozy." She croaked.

"If you're uncomfortable, I'll get out."

"No no... You're warm." She whispered, taking another bite of the bread.

He breathed a sigh.

"Sorry about earlier... I didn't-."

She reached up and pressed the loaf against his mouth.

"No. I deserve to feel bad... For being so doubtful about you."

He blinked, and then found the zipper again, and with some effort, zipped the sleeping bag completely shut over their heads.

"Its just so easy to second guess everything when you know your life is in constant danger."

He held onto the bread, took a bite out of it, and she retracted her arm, setting the loaf onto her stomach next to the apple, and then slipping her hands into his.

"I did mean everything I said, you know."

She moved her head slightly, and he exhaled.

"You are wonderful and quite lovely, Aelita... And I just wish we weren't stuck here in this miserable day and age. Maybe things could be different and we could be happy."

"We." She echoed.

"You, me, us..."

Her eyes wandered in the pitch black darkness inside the bag, until he pushed his fingers between hers.

"Remember when I mentioned the grassy field, and then you talked about dancing before the interviews...?"

She blushed, her heart aching.

"Yes... I remember."

"Figured... You looked so beautiful that night, you know."

She shut her eyes in a redder blush.

"Shhhhh..."

He grinned in the following silence, and his hand escaped her grasp as he grabbed the apple, sinking his teeth into it a few seconds later.

After several bites, and several swallows, he set it back onto her stomach, reclaiming her hand.

"Feeling better?"

"Mmhmm."

"Good... I'm going to get some shuteye here, but don't be afraid to wake me up if anything happens."

"You sure?"

He smiled, shutting his eyes.

"Positive."

She sighed, closing her own eyelids as his thumbs softly caressed hers.

Warm, fed, and now knowing the feeling of a protective cuddle from the blonde, the question resurfaced once more.

_Can I trust Odd?_

She squeezed his palm, and as soon as he squeezed hers back, the answer was clear.

_Yes. I certainly can._

* * *

**District Three.**

Thousands of people filtered into the square from streets and buildings surrounding the Justice Building. The stone structure, faded from many years of smoke drifting from the industrial depths of the city, stood silently, overlooking the open courtyard. Cloth banners, much brighter than the stone they were hung from, proudly displayed the gold Capitol seal against dark crimson.

Children and adults were separated and segregated into groups, and up on the balcony of the building, a small gathering of officials and people of importance sat as hundreds of peacekeepers and many cameras scattered around the square kept a watchful eye over the gathering.

Known officially, as the Reaping.

With thousands pressed into order in the massive square, a blanket of silence settled over the area, reaching far and wide across the factories and tenements of the District, and broken only by the occasional squawk of birds perched on eaves, gutters and power lines.

Among the crowd, pressed in with the older teenage females, a young red haired girl, seventeen, watched with disinterest as a screen in the distance played the same propaganda film they use every year at every reaping. _The same message being beaten upon the weary populace of District 3 for the fifty seventh year in a row, and only three victors left in recent memory to show for it._

The girl rolled her eyes as the district representative resumed speaking in the distance.

_Part of the problem with District 3's pathetic performance in the Hunger Games, is that almost everybody is poor and starving here. The few victors in the past were either lucky or quite resourceful. The rest... Were just like the rest of us. Technologically inclined, but weak, hungry city people that couldn't last a week outside of civilization - Much less in an arena with a group of deadly teens from the rest of Panem._

_When it comes to survival and combat skills, kids coming from District 3's urban environment are pretty much worthless._

Her eyes rose back up to the balcony, just in time to see the lady in the distance dig her hand through one of the glass balls.

_Another animal being picked for the slaughter..._

She stepped back up to the microphone, and a pack of birds took flight from a rooftop among the silence.

"Aelita Schaeffer."

Her head flicked up as the name - _Her name_ \- echoed through the air, and she stared at the woman in the distance as her mouth slowly opened.

_Oh._

_Ohh my._

With a deep breath of visible horror, she began to step forward, and a path slowly started clearing between people before her.

Whispers of her last name arose, and a low murmur of discussion hummed across the area as words and phrases were spoken.

_Schaeffer. Waldo's and Anthea's daughter. Orphaned years before._

She walked along, head hung low.

_Yes. That's me._

She approached the stone steps, looking up as the woman motioned for her to hurry.

Heartbeats later, Aelita stopped on the deck, and turned to the mass of people before her, visibly distraught as her eyes wandered over thousands of faces.

_I'm barely keeping myself alive... And this is what I get._

Her head sank, and her body trembled as a male name was spoken, echoing across the courtyard.

_Not a single volunteer._

_Who am I kidding..._

Her eyes rose as a brunette boy walked up next to her.

_Well..._

_Goodbye, District 3._


	6. Chapter 6

Aelita's eyes opened to blackness.

With a sharp inhale of breath, she looked up and groaned, watching as her movement caused the head just above hers to move.

"Hey."

She blinked, and he brought his head up, pushing the sleeping bag up with one of his arms.

"Mmmm." She murmured, shifting and stretching, feeling quite stiff from spending an entire night on her back, on a human body.

_Not soft like a bed, but delightfully warm and cuddly._

She shuffled around, managing to twist over and settle onto her stomach, and then resting her chin upon her arms, eying the blonde sleepily in the darkness of the bag.

"Morrrrning." He whispered, smiling cheekily as she rolled her eyes, and then setting his hands together upon her back.

"What's the plan for today?"

"Staying inside."

"Why's that?"

"Take a look outside."

He tugged the zipper down, and she pulled it further in her own hand, peeking out of the bag.

Beyond the open doorway, was a flurry of steadily falling snow.

She blinked several times, before ducking back inside and forcing the zipper closed again to preserve the warm air.

"That's... Different."

"I've been debating on a fire, but its a bit risky with our friends just down below. If they don't see the smoke, they'll probably hear the wood burning."

"So we're just staying put?"

"For now."

She huffed, and then pushed herself up, tugging the zipper open again.

"I don't know about you... But there's a thing or two I need to take care of."

She fought her way out of the bag, and after a moment, Odd wrestled out of it as well.

"Me too."

* * *

Nature relieved, a brisk run outside, and tiptoeing one by one back into the shelter later, both tributes brushed the snow off each other, and boots were finally kicked off.

A quick digging through backpacks and slicing with Odd's machete, and a simple breakfast of half an apple and a slice of bread was ready for consumption as both of them worked their way back inside the sleeping bag, settling together comfortably, and then eating as warmth was regained inside.

"We're running out of food." Aelita spoke between bites.

"I know... And I've got a plan. But it's stupidly dangerous."

Her chewing stopped.

"We should distract the tributes down there, and steal some of their food. Just enough where its not even noticed."

Her mind worked as she began chewing again.

"You have that slingshot, right?"

A grin spread on his face.

"Yes I do."

"Launch a couple rocks past them. They'll make noise, and it might sound like somebody is somewhere nearby."

His hand touched his chin.

"We'll try this at nightfall. It'll be dark, and if its still snowing, even harder to see."

She sank her teeth into the bread again, and was just tearing the rest away when an explosion pierced the air outside.

Startled, both of them sat still, and voices arose from far away, but no further blasts followed.

"Somebody died."

"We'll find out who tonight."

She swallowed, and after a moment, the blonde sighed.

"I'm gonna be honest right now."

She paused.

"What."

"It's kinda stuffy in here."

* * *

Minutes later, both of them were tucked against the back wall of the room, surrounded by the sleeping bag that was now sufficing as a blanket. Backpacks sat within reach, and Aelita's axe sat on her lap as she watched Odd's fingers carefully manipulate the massive knife.

He looked down along the blade's edge, before watching the falling snow outside just beyond. Aelita's hand then appeared nearby, and he turned it around, setting the hilt into her palm.

"How did you get away with this thing...?"

He reached down and daintily lifted the axe from her lap.

"...How did you end up with this?"

She exhaled.

"Right at the start, I passed the cornucopia... Saw the district 7 boy running with it, towards a pair of backpacks I was going after. So I rammed into him, both of us tumbled, but he picked it right back up and approached me."

Odd moved the axe left and right in an arc, before giving a nod.

"He moved towards me but I punched him in the face. Broke his nose I think."

The blonde smiled with approval, and then set it back onto her lap.

"He still held onto it, so I grabbed it and kicked him in the gut. He fell, lost grip of it, and I moved for the remaining backpack since one vanished, and then... Ran for my life."

Her eyes rose up to his, and he watched her thumb test the serrated edge along the back of the blade.

"I told you that I just about beat everyone to the cornucopia... Didn't tell you that I almost lost my arm getting that knife."

He turned his left arm over, and the cut reappeared in plain view, running along up to his wrist.

"I think if this was any deeper, I might have just kept bleeding."

Her index finger ran along the wound up to his wrist, and then her hand dropped onto his palm, and she gave the machete back to him.

"So after getting my arm sliced pretty well, I evaded another knife, got back to my feet, and continued to run. Right up the hillside. Didn't stop until I was probably halfway up this mountain."

The machete slid contently back into its sheath, and their fingers mingled together as both pairs of eyes looked out of the doorway beyond.

_Still snowing._

"A day afterward, I found this building, and stayed put under the bridge when it started raining like crazy. The next after that, I circumnavigated the mountain when our career friends found the mine too, and about midday, I heard, and then found you at that overlook."

He squeezed her palm, and she blushed slightly.

"And despite your initial belief, I was awfully glad to find you alive yesterday."

She sighed.

"I didn't know if you would abandon everything once we actually ended up here..."

His eyebrow rose.

"I don't know about you, but where I come from, loyalty is a thing to be proud of."

"And where I come from, being cautious can keep you alive."

Both of their attentions perked when someone outside spoke.

_"I'm telling you, I hear voices somewhere. Somebody's out there."_

_"Look, when it stops snowing, we'll go check it out. I don't want to hear you complaining anymore."_

_"Fine."_

The pair's eyes met, and from then on, they sat in silence. Biding their time until the darkness of evening came over the land.

* * *

With a twist of the handle, the bedroom door opened, and she stared inside.

_Empty._

_"Aelita?"_

She blinked, and looked behind herself.

"Dad?"

_"Aelita..."_

Her eyebrows furrowed.

_"Aelita!"_

"I'm right here!"

_"Aelita, wake up!"_

Her eyes flitted open, and Odd was shaking her arm.

_Oh._

"Hey. Look outside."

Her eyes rose, and the open wall before them was now a silhouette against heavy snow, and a dark sky beyond. He lifted the axe from her lap, and she winced, realizing there was now a bloody cut across the palm of her hand.

She looked at the weapon, and then him, and he set it beside her and stood to his feet with a stretch, eying her with a subtle smile as she rose up alongside him.

"I didn't do that."

"I know. I was dreaming."

Both of them stepped forward, peeking out of the doorway and watching as the fallen snow under the bridge was illuminated by the orange flickering of a fire.

Shadows of tributes, a tent, and several containers and crates surrounded the campsite, as did a multitude of footsteps in the snow.

The blonde looked at his compatriot confidently, and she agreed with a nod, pulling the hood of her jacket over her head.

_Time to steal dinner._

* * *

Armed with their weapons and Odd's slingshot, the pair crept along the catwalk, bursting into a run into the darkness once their boots found the hillside again.

With the remaining daylight disappearing rapidly, they stopped, and huddled low to the ground, watching the flickering of the fire in the distance. Only minutes remained until the two of them were under the cover of complete darkness.

The blonde then began to scrounge around on the ground, sifting through snow to find the occasional rock, and Aelita joined in as he put one onto the pouch of the slingshot, finding several more as he lifted his arm into the air, finding the right angle.

With a muffled snap, the rock disappeared into the darkness.

Met with silence, Aelita handed him another rock, and he aimed at the campfire in the distance, before aiming high again.

***Snap***

This time, after a few seconds, a tree in the distance was struck, producing a distinctively loud crack.

Heads turned at the campsite, and Odd grinned, handing the slingshot to Aelita.

"Your turn."

Aiming high in the air, she let another rock fly, and both of them sunk down and sat still as a branch broke, and bits fell through the tree before the rock landed in a bush.

_"What the hell..."_

One tribute stood up in the distance, looking towards the sound.

_"I told you somebody's out there!"_

_"This snow sucks... Whoever's out there is gonna be dead by morning."_

The pair tried hard to contain a bout of laughter, and Aelita handed the slingshot, reloaded, to Odd.

_"One more should do it."_

As Odd gripped the slingshot, Aelita gripped one of the rocks, and stepped forward.

Right after the slingshot fired, Aelita chucked the second rock to the left.

The first bounced loudly off another stone, and the second tumbled into a pile of leaves somewhere.

_"That's IT! You're DEAD, tribute!"_

The first picked up a sword and ran from the campfire, followed by a girl with another, and the third tribute at the fire, holding a bow, slowly followed.

Odd quickly fired three more rocks as he began to step forward, and then both he and Aelita, in slight disbelief, began to approach the campsite.

With falling snow, occasional gusts of wind, and the darkness on their side, the pair hustled into a run, ducking low as they got closer to the orange light of the fire.

Odd suddenly stopped, and Aelita dropped to the ground as the tribute with a bow paused, and looked behind for a moment. Seeing nothing different, he continued forward, and sped up his pace as one of the tributes in the distance shouted repeatedly.

The pair sprung back into action, and with several bounds, were up by the warmth of the fire.

Somewhat overwhelmed by the supplies, both of them quickly poked around, lifting container lids and perusing through contents, and one by one, small items were pocketed, and another bag of apples was grabbed.

Suddenly, a blast of cannon ripped through the air, and Aelita's hand instantly retracted from investigation.

"Got anything good?" Odd spoke.

"Yeah."

"Then let's get the hell out of here."

Both of them turned and darted away from the campfire, making a hasty retreat into the darkness just seconds before the other tributes began to reappear one by one back at the campsite.

_"...Almost felt sorry for that moron. Who's that loud when they walk anyway?"_

_"A fish out of water."_

_"Hah... District 4. Try again next year!"_

Both Odd and Aelita traded an unsettled look as they carefully found their way back up the catwalk, ducking inside the dark shelter of the little room again.

_Somebody from 4 was out there... And is now dead._

Aelita set the apples next to her backpack, and both of them emptied their pockets of the rest of the spoils - Cheese, more crackers, some sort of dried beef, and another empty bottle.

"Not bad." Odd spoke, before poking outside, and stuffing snow into the bottle until it was jammed full.

As soon as he came back inside, Aelita spread the open sleeping bag onto the floor and moved all of the food onto the middle, and he fished out the other two bottles of water before unsheathing his machete, setting all three onto the bag as well.

Both of them then kicked their boots off, and sat down on opposite sides, and the blonde rubbed his hands together.

"Let's eat."

* * *

Markell sat with the Mentor from District 8, Sebastion, as both sipped from alcoholic beverages.

"In all my days as a mentor... I've never seen a team quite like those two."

Mark smiled.

"I didn't even know Aelita was so effective at stealing."

"And Odd."

"I get the feeling both of them did it in their spare time."

Sebastion turned his head.

"District 3 is a lot like 8 as I've heard... Poor and hungry."

"And urban."

"I wouldn't be surprised. Takes a lot just to scrape by these days."

Markell sat silently, watching the screens. As as Capitol resident, he couldn't quite sympathize with common folk from the districts - Even if he was supposed to represent all of District 3 now...

He sighed silently and took another sip of the drink, watching as both Odd and Aelita tucked into the sleeping bag in a cuddle. Sebastion gave him a look, but Markell shook his head, causing him to take another sip of liquor.

_Even in the middle of the games, those two found moments of peace together. If only they knew of their adoration back here in the Capitol..._

A smile reappeared on his lips, and he touched his hand to the stubble on his jaw.

_For being two strangers from far away, they sure are working together quite well._

_...Maybe a little too well, with how close they're getting to each other._

_Oh well. They'll learn their lesson the hard way, unfortunately._


	7. Chapter 7

One by one, her eyes opened. _Another morning later, warm and still alive._

Aelita touched her fingers to her eyes, and then ran them up into her hair - Frowning from the stiff, not-so-clean feeling that graced her fingers.

The hand on her side moved slightly, and she looked up, greeted by the calm, tired face of the blonde.

"Stopped snowing last night."

She shifted, breathing in the warmth of the air as she found a comfortable position, and then stretched her legs.

"How many days... Have we been in the arena?"

His eyes wandered in an upward arc.

"Five."

Silence hung inside the bag for a moment.

"I didn't think I'd last this long. At all."

"Almost a week... Neither did I."

Their eyes met, and Aelita swallowed.

"I keep getting this feeling... We've just been laying here for hours."

The blonde watched her as she turned her head in thought.

"You'd think something would happen by now... Right?"

He shut his eyes in a smile.

"Right... Cause stealing stuff in a snowstorm and cuddling every night in a sleeping bag, isn't entertaining to anybody out there."

Noticing her pointed look, he brushed a portion of her hair with his finger.

"And, no... The cameras are not the reason for my behavior."

His hand moved, and his finger traced along to her cheek, dragging some of her hair along.

"I'm getting this feeling you've forgotten I made a promise."

A light blush - From his finger and slight embarrassment, touched her cheeks in the darkness of the sleeping bag.

"No, I haven't..."

Her voice trailed off as she wandered into thought again.

_Yes. A promise to spare my life at the cost of yours. Believe me Odd, I'm well aware of it._

"Its just..."

"Second guessing?" He offered.

"No. I guess you do have a point... The stillness of everything just feels weird though."

"People are watching and waiting. I bet everyone's wondering whats next for the troublemaker team."

A grin split her face.

"I forgot about that name."

His hands reached up and he began to tug the zipper open.

"Could be worse, right?"

* * *

The pair huddled together, keeping close and cozy with the sleeping bag over their legs.

Sharply cold winds swirled through the air, wandering inside the little room on occasion as the clouds above drifted apart, leaving nothing but cold air behind as they vanished into the blue of the sky.

Any exposed skin, was numb within minutes.

"You still have that flint rock?"

"Yeah." Aelita replied, also in a whisper.

"Good... We'll have a fire sometime soon."

"Up here?"

"Not sure... And not right now."

Aelita shivered.

"Fire would be nice... Our neighbors below get to enjoy it."

Odd's mouth moved, and his arm pulled tighter around her.

"I think our neighbors below might get robbed again."

Her eyes shut, and a flicker of excitement bloomed inside.

"They don't need so much food anyway."

He smiled, and set his chin upon her shoulder.

"Just what I was thinking."

* * *

_"...As of yet, the fate of the Schaeffer estate is currently undecided. The only remaining heir of the family, their twelve year old daughter, is by law unable to claim the family's assets at her age."_

_"An extraordinary case of bad luck."_

Aelita's head rose out of a nap.

_Haven't seen that memory in a while..._

With a glance at the sleeping blonde next to her, she exhaled, watching the trees in the distance lazily sway back and forth from the wind.

_One big waiting game. Everything's so quiet, and everybody's waiting for something to happen._

_You may have dismissed my worry earlier, but the stillness doesn't seem right at all. Even if one of the district 4 tributes was killed during the theft last night, and we cuddle regularly..._

Her eyebrows furrowed.

_Maybe people in the Capitol are enjoying this nightmare._

_Pretty doubtful it'll last very long... I wonder what the gamemakers think of us just sitting here quietly..._

The blonde stirred, and her eyes flitted over, finding his.

"Hey."

He reaffirmed his grip of her hand, and she set her head back against the wall.

"Hey handsome."

His eyebrow rose as she grinned from her own reply.

"...Nothing's changed. Still windy."

He touched his hand to his chin.

"Trees make the wind louder, right?"

Her eyes rose up to the ceiling.

"Pretty sure."

He shoved off the sleeping bag, and stood to his feet, walking over and leaning out of the door for a moment.

"I think its time we get in gear."

Aelita stood up and approached him.

"It's still light out."

"The sun's almost behind the mountain... And the wind is pretty noisy."

She peeked outside, and looked down, eying the covered bridge below as her hair was tossed around.

"That roof doesn't look very steep..."

The blonde scanned the building below, looking for a way onto the rooftops below.

"None of these are. I've been on ones steeper than that."

She breathed a sigh.

"How do we get down to the ground from the bridge?"

"I'll go down there." Odd stepped back and retrieved the coil of rope on the floor. "As soon as we distract the careers."

Aelita blinked.

"There's no way I can lower you down like that."

He then picked up his backpack, and fastened a quick knot to the straps.

"Who says you have to lower _me_?"

* * *

Aelita stepped carefully along the steel panels of the mine's roof, keeping her head low as she stayed out of sight of the camp below.

_Staying on the rooftop wasn't a problem - Being silent was._

She sidled out onto the top of the covered bridge, rope around her arm, and the blonde's empty backpack on a shoulder. The howling wind taunted her, offering occasional gusts that made her quite leery of her balance as she approached the middle.

_Falling would be painful. And then I'd be dead._

She sat down, peering over the edge and rediscovering the supplies below, pausing as the bridge groaned for a moment.

Three people sat below, blissfully unaware somebody was perched above them, and someone else was hidden nearby.

Suddenly, the crunch of leaves and several heavy thuds in the distance caught her attention through the wind, and she kept an eye on the hillside in the distance, waiting in the following silence.

The wind resumed, the fire below popped, and somebody put on another chunk of wood.

This time, she saw the blur of a sizable rock sailing through the air in the distance.

More leaf crunching, snapping of twigs, and another thud.

_"Someone's there."_

Aelita's skin crawled.

_"Shut up. You're hearing the wind."_

_"Oh yeah? How come last night we found that stupid boy from 4 wandering around?"_

_"Okay... But tha-."_

***POW***

Aelita flinched, clutching dearly onto the roof as the sharp report of a cannon ripped through the air.

Five people, including her, were now looking at the sky.

***POW***

Another blast thundered through the air, and Aelita kept her head on a swivel.

_"I TOLD YOU! Somebody just killed two tributes out there!"_

_"Calm down you idiot..."_

_"No! I'm tired of being stalked by people. This kid's gonna die!"_

_"Alright, wait up! There could be more than one person... You. Stay put."_

Then, Aelita watched as both a boy and girl tribute took off running towards the source of the sounds, into the wind.

They disappeared down the hill, and her mind suddenly clicked.

_Tatius and Aquila. District 2's tributes._

She peered over the other side, and the third tribute stood, bow drawn, watching something in the distance in the opposite direction.

Looking the other way, she watched carefully as Odd crept around the base of the smokestack, approaching the camp with light footfall in the snow alongside the wall of rock below. Catching his attention, she held her finger to her lips and pointed down, and he confirmed with a nod.

He tiptoed up to the camp, and at the same time, she slowly unraveled the rope and suspended the backpack below, readily unzipped and out of sight next to the bridge as the blonde crept up to the outside of the stack of supplies, and delicately began to pry open lids.

With a lone fork being the only item of interest so far, he grabbed it and hid it inside one of his pockets.

Opening another, he blinked, finding a previously cooked chicken wrapped poorly inside foil, and in an instant, the lid was shut, and the container was in his hands.

He stepped over, approaching the backpack hanging in the air, but suddenly found himself walking right into another tribute!

The container dropped to the ground, both of them recoiled as they bumped into each other, but Odd was surprisingly quick, sending a well-aimed fist right into the tribute's jaw. His head jerked to the side, and he sprawled flat onto the ground behind, and Odd stood back for a moment, before regaining sobriety and picking the container back off the ground. The backpack lowered quickly, the container was stuffed inside, and with a quick zipping, Aelita pulled it back up out of sight, and within moments, she was on her feet and leaving the rooftop.

Odd looked behind himself, and then stepped over, scooping a pile of snow and dropping it onto the face of the tribute, and then in a burst of vengeful thinking, kicked the stack of supplies, knocking all of them over and spilling their contents onto the ground.

Spotting a bundled up sleeping mat, he grabbed it at the last minute, and then turned and began to run, leaving the scene as fast as possible.

He darted up the hillside, smiling with uncanny glee as he vanished around the side of the mine, finding his way to the very top, and dropping flat onto a different roof.

He caught his breath, and listened carefully as voices arose in the distance, smiling from a shout, and hurried footsteps that followed.

_"Wha..."_

_"God DAMMIT. What happened here?!"_

Odd burst into restricted, quiet laughter.

_"Hey. HEY. What happened?"_

_"Someone with blonde hair... He appeared and tried to take something. I walked around and he punched me in the mouth, and then kicked snow onto my face."_

_"I KNEW somebody was stalking us. Which way did he go?"_

_"I didn't see. I think he knocked over everything before he left."_

Tatius growled in anger, and Odd was writhing in laughter high above, keeping his mouth inside his jacket to suppress the sounds.

_"A blonde boy did all this?"_

_"Yeah."_

_"It's that kid from 8. Has to be."_

_"And we don't know where he is. We're NOT staying here anymore!"_

_"Then where do you plan to set up camp? We're already losing daylight."_

_"Anywhere but here! That tribute killed two people and now he's onto us. I HATE THIS!"_

_"Are you really afraid of him?"_

_"NO. I swear if I find him, I'm gonna tear him into shreds!"_

Odd peeked over the edge of the roof, and watched as the three disheveled tributes sifted through the snowy mess, gathering and stuffing things inside backpacks, and then putting out the fire.

After a few minutes, all that was left was a haphazard stack of empty plastic containers, a smoldering pile of charred wood, and hundreds of footsteps in the snow as the tributes vanished into the woods below.

The source of food was gone, but so was the danger.

He looked down and watched as Aelita peeked out of the door below, realizing that he was a few feet above her the entire time. She looked up at him, and both of them traded smiles.

"...And just like that, our neighbors moved out."

He moved his legs out, and dropped onto the catwalk below, landing next to Aelita.

She handed him his backpack, and Odd sucked in a great breath of the cold air, putting it around his shoulders.

"I think its time we scope out this mine."

* * *

Aelita broke the lock on a door, and pushed it open, flinching as one of the hinges snapped off as it squeaked open. Peering into the darkness, she waited as Odd's footsteps stopped behind her, before cautiously stepping inside. Adjusting to the darkness, she stepped over, touching the opposite wall, and then looking to the right, eying the lengthy interior of the adjoining covered bridge, and then watching as Odd set a box of the burnt wood onto the floor, and walked into the depths of a large room.

"Jeez."

Aelita followed his voice for a moment, growing wary of the increasing darkness.

The sound of a boot kicking metal filled the room, and Odd huffed.

"Can't see anything in here... Let's get a fire going."

He walked back over, picked up the box of wood, and Aelita sat down and fished out her flint rock in the darkness.

Fumbling with her axe, she touched both together in confirmation, and then drug the stone across the blade.

_Nothing._

Another try, and several sparks flew for a split second.

"Come over here. I don't know what it'll take to light this again but... See if you can do something."

She shuffled towards his voice, and her knee found a pile of wood, just as he walked away.

"I'll be right back."

She sighed, stomach growling, and struck the axe blade with the rock, producing more sparks than before, and briefly illuminating the wood below.

_Better._

Two more attempts, and Odd reappeared, shutting the door behind him.

"Hang on... This might help."

He knelt down beside her, and stuffed a wad of dry grass and sticks under the logs.

After a pause, Aelita struck the flint and steel together, and upon a second attempt, the ball of tinder bloomed into a flame.

With a gasp of excitement, both of them moved down and gently blew on the flame, and against all uncertainty, the flame grew and began to lick at the sticks and logs above it.

An inviting glow of light slowly began to illuminate the interior of the room, and both of them, faces lit by the orange flicker of light, eyed each other with a smile.

Warmth. Light. Even a little bit of comfort, was within reach from the fire...

* * *

Flames happily popped and crackled, working their way through previously burned wood. A vent in the roof above, and the draft from a previously unseen tunnel kept the room free of smoke.

With boots off, and backpacks emptied, the pair poked around the inside of the room, investigating everything except for the tunnel, which was almost sealed off by a fall of rock a few feet inside. Just like the room above, the interior was completely empty - Except for a rectangular steel container that sat in a corner.

Piquing their curiosity, the pair stepped over, and Odd lifted a rusty lid from the top, discovering that it was filled to the brim with a strange fine grey sand.

Aelita stared down into the container, carefully running her fingers through it.

"What is this?" Odd whispered.

She sighed.

"Accelerated gunpowder... And a lot of it."

He cupped a handful.

"You sure?"

She responded with a nod.

"They use this in ammunition... I've never worked with firearms, but this box is pretty much a bomb sitting here."

He dropped the pile back inside, before setting the lid onto it.

"It's potent... But we'll be fine, as long as a spark doesn't wander in here."

"Then I'm moving it further away." He breathed, before stepping over and dragging the metal box into the tunnel with some effort.

After a few seconds, and jostling of rock, the blonde poked his head out.

"I think I found some more firewood."

Aelita walked over, and seeing a large chunk of wood the blonde was gripping, she stepped over and got a hold of it. With several jerks, a thick wood timber was dislodged from the rock debris, and they dragged it out, setting it near the fire.

"Axe." Odd spoke, smiling as she handed it to him seconds later.

Several grunts and swings of the weapon-turned-tool later, the old timber of wood split and splintered apart, and was cut further into smaller chunks. With a bundle of large and small lengths of wood now available, the fire was built up further, and quickly began to grow in size - As did the pair's moral.

Resting from prior efforts, both of them warmed their toes and spirits together, and Odd held the partially cooked chicken, skewered on his machete, over the fire. An apple was cut, and eight crackers sat in two stacks, but both of them watched patiently as the chicken sizzled, cooking over the open flame.

The prize of a clever, riskier robbery.

He withdrew the chicken, which was visibly steaming, and then held it in front of Aelita, withdrawing the lone fork that he remembered was in the pocket of his pants.

"Ladies first."

She slid the utensil out of his fingers, and with some work, tore a sizable chunk out of the chicken, taking a bite, and shutting her eyes in satisfaction.

Odd simply tore a bite out with his teeth, and smiled as Aelita leaned over against him, getting another forkful, and devouring it just as easily as he chewed.

_Totally worth the effort._

* * *

With minutes, the chicken disappeared into their stomachs. Then the crackers, and finally the apple slices followed suit.

Half an hour later, nature ran its course, and after relief, they huddled around the fire, warming up again. The darkness of night had already reclaimed the land, and with the fire invisible and inaudible from outside, they began to breathe easy.

"...Remember how everyone told us sponsors could be so crucial for survival?" Aelita spoke up, after staring into the fire.

"Yeah?"

"I'm beginning to wonder if..."

Odd held up his hand as a small, musical pattern grew audible, and then something metal clunked into the door and dropped to the ground outside, silencing the tone.

A smile rose on his face as they traded looks, and Odd quickly moved to the door, opening it, and finding a silver parachute and canister sitting just outside. He gathered it up, closed the door, and Aelita watched with genuine surprise as he sat down next to her again, and both turned, facing the object between them.

Popped the container open, something small and rectangular sat inside with a note.

Aelita pulled the slip of paper out, and Odd plucked the object out, blinking when he realized what it was.

She read the note, and a blush spread across her cheeks.

_'Ye of little faith..._

_\- M'_

Half of the object landed in her lap, and she picked it up, pleased when she figured out what it was.

"Chocolate."

Odd bit into it, and pushed a breath through his nose as he chewed.

Aelita followed suit, and for a few minutes, both of them sat, reveling in the sweet taste of an almost forgotten delicacy.

"This... Is the last thing I expected to eat here."

Odd wrapped the rest of his half up, and set it aside, away from the fire.

"Might as well make it last."

She set hers aside on the blade of the axe, watching as the etches from the flint rock flickered from the moving glow of the fire.

_That explains the sparks..._

She sat cross-legged, holding her hands together and watching the blonde as he prodded the logs with a dark chunk of wood, before setting it on top of the pile. His eyes rose, meeting Aelita's, and she lowered her head in a smile, scooting over next to him a moment later.

Their fingers wandered together, and she watched the fire as her heart stirred.

His hand moved on top of her palm, and she squeezed the tips of his fingers, causing him to breath a silent sigh.

"Aelita."

She eyed him, and he stared into the depths of the flames.

"...You know that field we've talked about?"

His head turned to her, and she nodded in reply.

"If we could ever go to a place like that... What would we do when we get there?"

She watched him carefully as the fire filled the following silence.

"You know... If we weren't here, and everything was different. You and I."

Her eyes sank, and her chest began to ache.

"Well, I..."

She reaffirmed her grip of his fingers, and emotion tickled her insides as it resurfaced.

"...I'd hold your hand, and we'd wander out into the grass. Wander until we're lost, and keep going, far away from everything."

Her eyes rose to the ceiling, and he ran his thumb along the side of her hand.

"And once we're in the middle of nowhere, we'd stop, and watch the wind ripple across the grass, listening to the world around us."

A blush tinted the blonde's cheeks as his imagination painted the scene.

"Then, what?"

She looked down, and then scooped up his other hand.

"We'd dance. Because I love, and miss dancing."

He grinned bashfully, eying their hands.

"I don't really know how to dance."

"You'd learn. I'd teach you right then and there, and we'd dance forever."

"Forever?"

"Forever... Until we get tired. Then we lay down in the grass and rest, watching the clouds move across the sky."

He watched the reflection of the fire in her eyes.

"We'd do all that, together?"

"Yes."

Glances segued into a stare, their eyes staying faithfully together as the fire inside them, dampened for so long, came back to life.

"...You and me?"

She shook his hands, overcome with emotion.

"Yes!"

After a moment, he tugged her forward, pulling her into a hug.

"I just wanted to be sure."

She exhaled after his whisper, nuzzling the side of his neck until he released her from his arms.

They sat in silence afterward, and the fire popped loudly.

At the same time, both of them noticed a pool of liquid seeping from the most recent log on the fire.

Odd's hand moved down, hesitating before touching a finger to the liquid.

He then brought it up to his nose.

"Tar."

He dabbed his fingers twice, and in a moment of curiosity, reached over and spread some of it onto Aelita's wrist.

She wiped the spot with her hand, smearing it along her forearm, and then looked at the blonde with a slowly growing smile, touching four fingers into the pool, and pulling the blonde's arm over, drawing numerous lines along his skin from his hand up to his elbow.

He looked at his arm, and eyed her as she then coated the tips of his fingers with the tar.

"Camouflage."

His fingers captured her sticky black hand for a moment, and he reached over, grasping her other arm with his free hand, and drawing a swirling pattern on both sides.

She watched, waiting until he was done before eying his work, and then reached over and drew a zig-zag, before smearing the rest of the tar on her hand around his wrist.

After a moment of sitting back and eying each other, they burst into a fit of laughter.

"Better than paint!" She giggled, rubbing her hands together.

Odd looked at her face, getting another dab from the puddle before leaning forward.

"One more..."

He gently turned her head, and with one rub of his finger on her cheek, a heart appeared.

Her face grew red with a blush as he leaned back, watching as her skin glowed from the light of the fire.

"...Perfect."

He watched her eyes wander back to his, and then shed his jacket, tossing it aside.

His eyebrow rose as she pulled hers off as well, and both of them realized they were wearing similarly yellow shirts.

"A little too warm with that jacket on."

"Yeah."

After a few moments of bashful eye play, they both turned and sat closer together, facing the fire, which was now consuming the tar-producing log. Their hands pushed together, and sticky fingers intersected, temporarily gluing them together.

"Kinda funny... Both of us having yellow shirts."

She looked at him, and he offered a brief smile.

"Almost seems like its on purpose."

"Maybe..."

A log shifted in the fire, and both of their attentions went separate ways for a while.

Then, the blonde watched her from the corner of his eye, only to turn his head anyway.

Her chin rose slightly, and she looked directly at him, watching as his head leaned closer, eying her with intense curiosity.

His eyes widened as she carefully matched his lean, and both of them stared at the other, only a breath apart.

And then, their lips gently touched together.

* * *

The kiss lingered, and separating took just as long, leaving them hungering for more as they reluctantly moved apart.

Their eyes met, and eyebrows rose sadly as their hearts burned ferociously.

"Odd..."

His face grew pained from her whisper.

"I know."

"No. Its... I should have known."

"Aelita. Its me."

"No, Odd!"

She clutched both of his hands.

"...It's me too. Why do you think it was so easy?"

Her grip softened as their fingers intersected.

"It's not going to matter in the end, Odd. Either one of us lives on in misery, or we both die."

He swallowed, and she stared down at their hands.

"I... Sorry for putting it that way."

"Nono... You're right. There's only one winner."

Her heart sped up, but he read her expression and shook his head.

"I made you a promise, and I'm still going to keep it."

He reached up and touched her face, and her eyes closed.

"...And now, I know your feelings are true."

A tear drifted from the corner of her eye, and his thumb wiped it away. Then, after a minute, his hand sank down to the floor.

"I think... We should get some rest now."

She slowly nodded, and both of them crawled over to the sleeping bag, which was now on top of the stolen bed pad.

The blonde sidled inside and lifted the top of the bag open, waiting patiently as she tucked inside before dropping it over them, and then pulling her into a tight, cuddling hug.

They listened to the fire as it slowly began to die down, and Odd ran his fingers through the back of her hair repeatedly as they lay together in silence.

"Aelita... You're the only good thing left in this arena. If anyone's going to make it out of here safe, its gonna be you."

He fought back tears of his own as she silently wept.

"I promise."


	8. Chapter 8

Markell swallowed as the courtyard grew eerily silent. The fluttering wings of pigeons taking flight, and the babbling water of the nearby fountain became the only sounds heard in the area, as the two tributes from Districts 3 and 8 kissed on screen.

His eyebrows rose, and the air filled with murmurs, only to silence again as the boy and girl began to exchange strong, sad words.

_Earlier, with the theft and driving away the careers, capitol people were hooting and hollering. Then the arm and face painting drove everyone nuts with admiration, and then..._

_This._

He sighed.

_It was only a matter of time before those two did something drastic like that... But the real problem has yet to come. As soon as one of them outlives the other... Who knows what will result from a broken heart?_

His fingers rubbed his eyes, and then the screen showed the two of them tucked inside their trusty sleeping bag.

Within minutes, they were both sound asleep, and the screen changed to one of the other tributes trekking through the trees, causing Markell to stand up from the bench, and walk towards the training center apartments in the distance.

_If there's one thing those two are good at, its getting a hell of a lot of time on screen..._

* * *

Aelita twisted her axe around in her hands, watching as each blade briefly reflected the dim morning light with each twist. The fire next to her, was now a cold pile of ash.

The blonde, sitting nearby, was whittling one of the unburned sticks with the machete, focusing deftly as he tried to get rid of a knot on the wood.

"Odd."

He slowly looked up at her.

"It's been... Six days, right?"

Doing a quick count in his head, he nodded.

"Yup."

"...Figured."

With a jerk, the last of the knot was cut off, and Odd eyed the sharpened stick, prodding his finger with the tip before setting it aside.

Then in the silence, voices arose.

Their eyes met, and their heads turned towards the door as a familiar voice hollered something in the distance.

In an instant, Odd was on his feet, sheathing the machete.

"We've got company."

Aelita pulled her backpack on and grabbed the rope, standing and fastening it around her waist as quickly as she could, and then tying a knot around the axe's handle.

Odd peered out of the small dusty window on the door, and upon seeing two quite familiar tributes running straight towards the mine, turned to Aelita.

"I hope you've got everything!"

"I do!"

"Good!"

He hopped over and grabbed her hand.

"Cause we're leaving right now!"

He turned, and both of them sped into motion, running down through the covered bridge to the opening on the opposite end.

Halting suddenly, they peered out of bridge to the right, and one of the tributes disappeared from view a second afterward.

The door slammed open in the distance behind them, and in a split-second decision, hands were released, and both of them jumped off the end of the bridge, landing on the tailings pile below in a shuffle of yellowish powder and rock as they slid uncontrollably downhill, before finding purchase and regaining balance, and breaking into a run down the hillside.

_"There they are! Down there!"_

The distant, familiar voice of Tatius yelled at them from above, and both of them sped into a brisk pace as the snapping of branches and shuffle of footsteps from behind joined theirs.

In seconds, a chase was on.

"Odd!" She breathed. "Where are we going?!"

"Somewhere! Stay with me!"

She frowned, but pressed on, ducking under a cluster of branches as they sped into the depths of the aspen trees, leaving the mine behind in a desperate bid to escape their pursuers.

Taking a sudden turn to the right, and narrowly avoiding a stump, the pair began an evasive series of turns around trunk after endless white trunk as the footsteps behind grew faint, losing track of the two of them as they wound further into the forest.

Suddenly, Aelita gasped as a figure burst out of the trees to her right and dove forward, colliding into her ankles and knocking her feet right out from underneath her.

She sprawled into the leaves below, wincing as the steel of the axe jerked into her side, and just as she turned over, boots pinned her arms down, and a hand shoved her face sideways onto the ground.

A hand, she realized, belonging to a horrifyingly familiar female tribute.

"Ohhh, you _do_ remember me. Good..."

Her fingers dug into Aelita's cheeks as she turned her head upright, and she watched in horror as the girl from District 7, bloody shoulder and all, withdrew a large combat knife, holding it in front of her eyes.

"You know what I'm going to do _now?_ "

The girl's mouth spread in a dark smile.

"I'm going to cut you open. So you can watch your life bleed right out of you."

Aelita swallowed, watching helplessly as the knife snaked around her head, tucking against the underside of her chin.

The blade pressed tighter and tighter against her skin, and her mouth opened as her throat choked in desperation, but then she winced, and a strained cry escaped her throat as the blade slowly moved over, cutting her chin open and riddling her jaw with intense pain.

Warm, fresh blood trickled down her throat, and the knife was held above her head again.

"You see that?"

The knife tilted, and blood dripped onto Aelita's face, running down her cheek alongside the tears flowing from her eyes.

She stared at the girl, unable to move, speak, do anything to help herself, and the blade disappeared from view.

"And now, for your hands."

Suddenly, she looked up from rapidly approaching footsteps, and in an instant, a boot swung over and collided with the girl's chest, knocking her over backwards off Aelita as the figure then descended upon the tribute.

_Odd._

The blonde clutched the girl by her throat with both hands and drug her through the leaves, shoving her back against a fallen log and cutting off her air with an iron grip around her windpipe.

"I don't know where you came from... But if I find you again... If you ever attack Aelita again..."

He unsheathed his machete, and set the tip of the blade onto her nose as she struggled for breath.

"...I'll make sure you suffer."

He flicked a lock of her hair up with the blade, and then gripped her throat, and slammed her head back against the log.

He stood up as she fell to her side gasping in pain, and then turned around and knelt beside Aelita as she sat up.

They clasped together in a firm hug, and Odd pulled her up to her feet in his arms, eying her throat with alarm.

"I'm alright." She croaked.

"I'm sorry this happened so quickly... We've gotta get out of here."

She nodded, and their hands gripped each other firmly as they sped into another run, leaving her other hand tasked with staunching the blood from the wound.

With a blur of vision, she stumbled along behind him as they sped further through the woods for an known length of time.

The land suddenly dropped, and they slid to a halt on the bank of a small rock-strewn stream.

Aelita sat back against the slope of the gulley, and Odd quickly opened his backpack, pulling out a pair of socks and drenching one in the flowing water. He squeezed the excess out, and then leaned over her, brushing it against her neck, cleaning it of blood with moderate success.

Rinsing the sock, he continued further up her throat, over her Adams apple, along her cheek, and then brought her hand up to hold it over the wound as he dug through her backpack.

Finding the vial of peroxide, he twisted the lid off and poured a good deal onto the dry sock, closing the vial again, and then trading the new sock for the wet, bloody one.

"It's gonna sting... Be ready for it."

She shut her eyes, and pressed the sock up onto the cut underneath her jaw, grimacing as it stung with intense pain.

He tossed the now-ruined sock aside, washed his hands in the stream, and sighed, pulling her close in another hug.

"You're gonna be fine n-."

***POW***

Both of them flinched from the blast of a cannon.

In the following silence, the blonde blew a breath from his mouth as she moaned, leaning her head to the side on his shoulder.

"Did you..."

"No. She was still conscious... I think our friends found her."

He sighed, hoping he was right, and that they weren't about to find them too...


	9. Chapter 9

The door opened, and a pair of young blonde girls were greeted by a group of men with cameras and different colored hair.

"Hello..." One began, watching as two more girls appeared behind.

"...We'd like to speak to your parents, if they are available."

"Mom! Dad! There's people here!"

Behind the girls, both a young man and woman appeared from the dim lighting inside the apartment, and the girls retreated behind them.

"Mister and Misses... Della Robbia, I assume you know why we are here."

"We do not." The father began, apprehensively.

"We're here to interview you about your son."

* * *

Cyprianos, the head gamemaker, stood next to a younger President Snow on a balcony overlooking the city.

"Three days?"

"Clearly a week is a little too much time for... Certain individuals."

"With all due respect sir... I don't think training can be worked into three days so easily."

He turned, eying the gamemaker briefly.

"Twenty five years ago, it was ten days. Somebody figured out that was taking too long, and cut it down to a week."

His eyes moved across the skyline, and he breathed a sigh.

"Panem has grown since then. We've become more efficient... But there's still lapses being overlooked. Oversight in places... Is becoming ignorance."

Cyprianos' skin crawled from the President's words.

"We're already putting new rules in place for next year."

Receiving a pointed look, he nodded cautiously.

"...And I'll see to it that training is shortened."

"Good."

The president turned on his heel, and after a few steps towards the building, he paused.

"...Unlike you, and everyone else out there, I'm not a fan of this silly little alliance."

He walked away, and Cyprianos stood silently.

He wasn't a fan of Odd and Aelita per say... But he still held some admiration for their resilience, and had to walk a fine line as gamemaker. Killing the tributes outright would cause an outrage, but doing nothing, in a position of oversight...

Would be seen as ignorance. And ignorance gets you fired. _If you're lucky._

* * *

Odd looked up into the sky as he and Aelita trekked quietly through the forest.

"We're already losing daylight."

Aelita, speaking as little as possible to let her chin heal, walked around the end of a fallen log, discovering a massive pile of leaves around her feet before encountering a second fallen tree laying diagonally upon the first.

"Here." She simply whispered.

Odd hopped over the log and landed in the same pile of leaves, and then dug his boot into the pile as he eyed the surroundings - Namely a tree that stood upright next to her.

"Why not." He breathed, setting his backpack down, and brushing armfuls of leaves aside.

Aelita set her backpack down, and dug out the recently refilled water bottle, taking several sips before retrieving the sleeping bag, and taking part in the leaf and stick moving.

With a rectangular space cleared, the bag was arranged in the spot, and all of the material was dumped back onto the bag.

"Where do we hide the backpacks?" She spoke softly, watching as he tucked both against the log on the ground, and then covered them with more leaves.

"Right there."

A careful smile graced her lips, and he then walked around the tree.

"Take care of your business now... It's gonna be a little while until morning."

* * *

The night descended quickly upon the land, and the sky was open and clear with stars, leaving the arena quite dark.

Tucked inside the sleeping bag, and buried beneath a layer of dead leaves, the pair lay together in silence, with everything but their heads effectively blending into the forest floor.

Under the shadow of the logs and trees though, their faces were still hard to see.

"...Spooky." Aelita remarked, listening warily to the ambiance of the night around them.

Something shuffled nearby, and Odd smiled as she clutched his fingers.

"Rabbit... Squirrel maybe."

After a moment, his arm reached across Aelita's neck, and he fought with his backpack for a moment, withdrawing the remains of their chocolate right afterward.

With a quick snap in half, he held the chunk of chocolate in front of her mouth, and she reached forward and bit it, pulling it back, and then chewing it for a few seconds.

Odd followed suit, and the last of the surprise chocolate bar was gone in seconds.

Her eyes shut, and her chin buzzed with the dull feeling of a healing wound.

"Thanks for rescuing me earlier."

"Ohhh... You don't have to thank me. Was my fault for being unaware."

Her eye opened, and her finger touched his cheek.

"Thanks anyway."

He smiled, and closed his hand around her finger, before moving and leaning over her.

"You're welcome."

Her mouth moved, but she blushed when he set his index finger onto her lips for a moment. Her eyes relaxed, watching as it brushed a lock of hair aside from her face, before running down and tracing the heart painted onto her cheek.

She reached up and pressed his hand against her head, causing a fleeting smile to appear on his face as her fingers slipped between his.

Then, his head sank down and their lips touched, leading them into the sweet simplicity of another kiss.

Seconds later, he lifted his head away, and she exhaled as he gathered her hands in his own, settling onto his side again.

A happy little murmur hummed in her throat, and she shut her eyes.

_Time to rest._

* * *

Maybe a minute later, eyes flicked open from the crunch of footfall nearby.

With an alarmed trade of glances, Aelita moved her head up against the fallen log, and Odd set a small handful of leaves onto his face, sitting as still as possible.

A single pair of feet stepped closer and closer, and both sat in disbelief as another tribute slowly walked past them, fading into the distance.

_Sitting ducks, and somehow we weren't seen..._

Odd turned his head, and one leaf fell off as her eyes flitted over to his, bringing her cheek slowly away from the dead bark of the tree.

Waiting patiently until the tribute was out of earshot, he breathed.

"Not who we think it is."

"Why do you say that?"

He brushed the leaves off his face.

"She wasn't looking for us."

"...Or ' _she_ ' didn't see us."

"Anyway... Let's get some shuteye now."

In silent agreement, she moved back over, tucking up against the blonde and yawning as he pulled her close in a protective hug.

His eyes rose up to the stars in the sky, and a sigh left his chest.

_One week later, and Aelita's still alive._

_Amazing what teamwork can achieve..._

Then, his eyes caught a fleeting glance of a black object overhead.

Without a sound, it vanished, and he held his breath, watching the the darkness above.

_Hovercraft?_

Something rustled nearby and his skin grew cold for a moment.

_Didn't look like one..._

His eyes flicked down to Aelita's hair on his chest, and he touched his hand against her cheek, rousing her.

She turned her head to him, but his mouth kept shut as he kept a wary eye on their surroundings.

"Odd..."

"I just saw something." He whispered, his eyes then sinking down and meeting hers.

Her eyebrow simply rose.

"What did it look like?"

Suddenly, the air echoed with the sharp snapping of numerous branches, and a tree crashed to the ground. Then, several more violent smashes through foliage ensued, followed by a piercing, blood-curdling scream.

The pair's eyes were wide open, listening as a captive audience to the terrible thing that just befell someone.

Flinching from the booming report of a cannon, and with another brief crunch of debris in the distance, the land fell silent as the source of terror inexplicably vanished.

Aelita clutched the blonde as both of them tucked their heads inside the sleeping bag, and he pressed his face into her hair.

"...Whatever that thing looks like."

* * *

**End of Part 3...**


End file.
